This invention relates generally to reciprocating internal combustion engines and particularly relates to such an engine having a continuous combustion.
In engines of this type, the combustion chamber must be connected with the cylinders of the engine by transfer ports for supplying the gaseous medium and for exhausting the burned mixture again.
Such an engine has been disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,729 to warren. This patent disclosed a four cycle internal combustion engine where the working process takes place in two associated separate cylinders. By means of one cylinder, the compression air is sucked in, compressed and pushed over into the combustion chamber at the end of the compression cycle. In the other cylinder, a highly compressed and highly heated exhaust gas is supplied within the range of the upper dead center from the combustion chamber; this gas is then expanded by delivering work and is subsequently pushed out during the next cycle.
The advantage of this known working process consists in that the fuel added to the compressed air in the combustion chamber can be completely burned during a continuous burning process with a stationary flame. Therefore, the amount of injurious material of the exhaust gases leaving the engine is relatively low. Therefore, this process is particularly suited for use with automotive vehicles where continuously higher demands are made concerning the freedom from injurious materials of the exhaust gas in order to maintain clean air. These demands for conventional internal combustion engines with their discontinuous burning can be only achieved with difficulty and with considerable equipment.
However, it has been found that the efficiency of these known internal combustion engines which operate with a continuous combustion depends essentially upon the heat losses which occur in the transfer ports between the combustion chamber and the cylinders of the engine. If it is desired to obtain with this engine an output comparable to that of conventional internal combustion engines, the necessary demand is that these transfer ports must be made as short as possible.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a reciprocating internal combustion engine which operates with the continuous combustion in the manner explained hereinabove and which provides a high efficiency.